Air Rights at Flux Factory

While air rights are conventionally framed in terms of potential real estate development, the term legally defines who may “control, occupy, or use the vertical air space above a property.” Playing with this idea, air rights here point to the value of (vertical) community space as a site for creative expression, stemming from the first amendment of the Bill of Rights. In this series, I invite artists to occupy the air space traditionally reserved for governments, symbols of nationhood, and real estate developers, exercising their first amendment right to freedom of speech.

Speaking to solidarity with immigrants and the working class, this flag, created by Jevijoe Vitug, embraces the image of a raised fist as an early symbol of union organizing. On the arm are the artist’s own tattoos of ocean waves and the flight pattern of birds, referencing his personal experiences with movement and migration. The layered images offer multiple meanings, including immigrant (in)visibility or stripes as prison bars.

The Cunt Quilt is the official flag for the City of Today for Feminine Urbanism to be flown at FluxFactory’s Air Rights space. Airing the nation’s laundry after the 2016 US election, the artist began a national Underwear Audit to collect worn-out women’s underwear to sew onto Queen-sized bedsheets by feminists at quarterly craft gatherings. Born on protester’s backs at marches, the quilts represent an intersectional women’s movement. A performance of citizenship in three acts; the Underwear Audit accounts for our bodies, the Stitch n Bitches build feminist solidarity, and the Cunt Quilt holds our governing bodies accountable. The project will continue until there is a woman in the Whitehouse.

Revised U.S. Flag #4 (Francisco Franklin), designed by Francisco Franklin as part of the series Revised U.S. Flag by Maya Grace Misra, combines elements from the United States flag and the flag of his home country, Panamá.

Artist Statement by Maya Grace Misra

“In my project Revised U.S. Flag, I invite individuals who have immigrated to the United States to redesign the national flag based on their own experiences and their assessment of the nation’s values. . . The result is a compilation of flags representing the many voices of the people of the United States. The project serves to celebrate our national diversity, while questioning whether or not our national symbols can truly represent all people.”

Artist@streetside_flag_history
@mayapapaya07

Revised U.S. Flag #4 (Francisco Franklin) at the Windmill Community Garden